Dispensing guide element for cartons



Feb. 21, 1956 s. LEVINSON 2,735,593

DISPENSING GUIDE ELEMENT FOR CARTONS Filed Oct. 25, 1954 III/[IIIIIIIIlIlI/IIIIII INVENTQR.

Samuel 12! Len/(s02:

4- 20 ATTYs United States Patent This invention relates to a new and useful dispensing guide element and more particularly to an improved guide element for cartons or packages adapted to contain granulated or comminuted materials, or the like.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved discharge guide element that will normally be contiguous to an exterior corner portion of a package and may be readily manipulated into operative position to dispense comrninuted material from said package in the desired quantities and directly to the selected place for deposit of the material. My invention finds its greatest usefulness in connection with packaged granulated or powdered detergents for use in appliances such as dish washers and washing machines. pliances usually have a relatively small opening therein to receive a small charge of a dry detergent. My discharge guide element provides for a carton a simplified yet positive means of introducing the required detergent into the receiving opening in the appliance without spilling any of the charge on the floor or on the appliance, especially around the said opening therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide element of the foregoing character that covers and protects a dispensing opening preformed in the package and which is swingable from a normal position contiguous to a corner portion of the package into a fixed dispensing position at approximately right angles to the said corner portion.

Further objects of this invention relate to the special form of my discharge guide element and the manner in which it is articulated and arranged with respect to a major corner of the package to insure a package normally free of projections of all kinds and provide a relatively strong and fixed operative position for the element when the latter is swung to its dispensing position on the package.

Other specific objects of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading the following specification, accomplished by that certain construction and arrangement of parts which I shall now describe and which is illustrated in the drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:

Fig. l is a fragmental, perspective view of a container for granular material showing the discharge guide element of this invention arranged thereon in inoperative condition, its operative position being depicted in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the container and the guide element depicted in Fig. 1 show in their dispensing positions.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l, the broken lines illustrating the operative position of the element with respect to the package corner.

Referring now to the drawing the numeral is a carton or package adapted to contain dry granular or comminuted substances such as soap powders and syn thetic detergents. The carton is generally rectangular These ap-.

ice

in shape and is conventionally constructed from cardboard, or the like, to have a top panel 11 and at least a side and an end wall 12 and 13, respectively, adjoined at a heightwise corner 14 of the carton, the said side and end walls depending from the side and end edges 15 and 16, respectively, of the top panel. It is to be noted that the intersection of the panel and two walls form a major carton corner 17 and'that the rectangular carton depicted to illustrate this invention is provided with four of these major corners at each end thereof. For the purposes of this specification the term major corner may be taken to identify any one of the eight corners of the illustrated package.

A dispensing opening 18 is formed through a portion of a panel or a wall of the carton constituting a part of a major corner, and as illustrated in the drawings this dispensing opening is best located in a portion of the side wall 12 forming the major corner 17 of the carton. The dispensing opening is preferably triangular in shape to conform to the carton corner and may be either died out during formation of the carton blank or as indicated in Fig. 3 it may be formed during the blank making step as a punch-out 19 having an outline of body weakening score lines or perforations as is usual in the art.

My discharge guide element is indicated by the numeral 20, is generally trough shaped in contour, is made of inflexible materialand has a pair of integral side wings 21 and 22 disposed at right anglesto each other. The ends of the wings converge outwardly to form a reduced, discharge end 23 for the element. A pivotal connection 24 such as the usual rivet, secures the element to a carton corner for swinging movement from an inoperative position contiguous to the walls of the carton to an operative position substantially at right angles to the said walls. With particular reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing the pivotal connection 24 is shown positioned in the major corner 17 of the carton wherein it passes through the wing 22 of the element and through that portion of the end wall 13 constituting said corner. As most clearly shown in Fig. 3 the pivotal connection or rivet is positioned in said corner portion such that it is closer to the top panel 11 than to the side wall 12 whereby the wings 21 and 22 will be contiguous to the walls 12 and 13, respectively, when the element is in its inoperative position and permitting said element to swing on the pivot to its operative position. It will be noted that the wing 22 will swing in the plane of the wall 13 through substantially whilst the wing 21 will swing away from the panel 12 and around the corner 17 into a position, substantially in the plane of the top panel 11 and at right angles to the side wall 12. As indicated in Fig. 2 once the discharge guide element 20 has been moved to its operative position the carton must be inverted before the dry contents can flow by gravity through the dispensing opening 18, down the trough formed by the side wings 21 and 22 and from the discharge end 23 of the element to the point of application of the material.

A means for releasably securing the element 26 to the carton comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive strip 25 extended across the discharge end portion 23 of the element and having its ends secured to the exterior faces of the side and end walls of the carton.

The carton contents are sold with the discharge guide element 20 in the position depicted in full lines in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings. It will there be noted that the wings 21 and 22 of the element are in face-to-face contact with the adjacent face portions of the carton side and end walls 12 and 13, respectively, so that the element presents no undesirable projections and the wing 21 covers and protects the dispensing opening 18 in the wall 12. The element is held in said position by a releasable securing means which preferably takes the form of an adhesive strip 25.

To dispense dry material from the carton it is only necessary to remove the strip 25 and swing the element 20 around the pivotal connection 24 as a fulcrum to the position indicated in broken lines Figs. 1 and 3. Then by turning the carton upside down as shown in Fig. 2 the dry material will flow through the dispensing opening 18 and down the element to its place of application. As the trough shaped element faces upwardly the user of the carton can easily see and therefore accurately control the amount of dry material to be dispensed with each charge. To store material in the carton, the carton is stood upright and the discharge guide element 20 returned to the position shown in Fig. 1 where it will hang against the carton to close the discharge opening 18 until such time as another charge of material is required therefrom when the steps outlined hereinbefore will be repeated.

What is claimed is:

In a device of the character described in combination with a carton having side and end walls 'adjoined to form a heightwise corner, and a top panel disposed at right angles to said Walls and having its side and end edges joined to the side and end walls, respectively, of a dispensing opening made through and restricted to a corner portion of the side Wall formed by the heightwise corner and the side edge of the top panel, a discharge guide element having an L-shape in lateral section throughout its longitudinal extent, said element normally straddling the heightwise corner and having its upper edge flush with the top panel, said element having a pair of fiat wing portions normally lying contiguous to the exterior faces of the side and end portions forming the heightwise corner with one Wing covering the dispensing opening, a pivotal connection extending through the other Wing and the end wall at right angles thereto, said connection being located in the corner portion of the end wall formed by the heightwise corner and the end edge of the top panel and closer to the said edgethan to the said corner, the pivoted Wing of the element being adapted to swing upwardly through approximately a right angle in the plane of the end wall and carry the other wing to a dispensing position at right angles to the side wall and into substantially the plane of the top panel whereby upon turning the carton end-for-end its contents may be discharged through the dispensing opening and down the guide element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,118,626 Blake Nov. 24, 1914 1,328,704 Youngberg Jan. 20, 1920 1,714,363 Groner May 21, 1929 1,767,742 Case June 24, 1930 1,887,075 Walter Nov. 8, 1932 1,951,204 Purdurn Mar. 13, 1934 1,961,055 Lewin May 29, 1934 2,010,892 Read Apr. 13, 1935 2,108,431 Cornwall Feb. 15, 1938 2,252,250 Byrone Aug. 12, 1941 2,386,877 Neilson, Jr. et al Oct. 16, 1945 2,430,204 Baker Nov. 4, 1947 

